The Nightmare Scenario
by thecrimsonstarz
Summary: This was a look that the Captain had never wanted to witness in his career. Not from a friend... Not from Spock.
1. The bridge

" What's going on down there? " The doctor stressed into the comm. He leaned against one of the tables and held the comm close to his face. His expression was stained with worry and his eyes were locked to the main screen. " I swear to God, Jim, if I have to pull your reckless ass out of this one, I'll keep you in the sickbay just to spite you. "

There was no answer.  
He was only met with silence.

The crew sat silently at the bridge; all but the Captain and his first officer were present. The only sounds in the room were the occasional ring or buzz from the computers that seemed to resonate off the still walls. They were all too busy to speak watching, analyzing, attempting to formulate a plan; they could not find any words. Something felt off. Something was not right. They all knew it, but no one wanted to be the one to say it.

Not one of them had reported back in the extended amount of time since they had landed on the planet. It had caused a worry to dwell in the very stomachs of the crew members; as a precaution, or perhaps as a minor comfort, Kirk and Spock's biorhythms were pulled up in plain view on the very main screen of the bridge.

" Something is wrong. Their heart rates are faster than they should be."

" And they should have reported back by now. " Uhura added.

" No, no! " The curly blond spat in a start. The whole of his attention was on the screen, his fingers moving quicker than should even be physically possible. All heads turned to the Russian as he began frantically pressing buttons and touching the screen. Then he froze, eyes stuck on the screen as if in horror.

" Report Chekov. "

He removed his hands from the touch screen and after a battle with his hesitation, and he turned his head to the others. " Access to ze planet's surface has been lost. "

They all stared at each other. The loss of access could mean many things, and none of them were good scenarios. There could have been bugs in the ship's system; the ship could itself be faulty and they had not known it and therefor had never gotten it fixed while at Earth; or, the planet's locals had blocked entry and leave from their planet for whatever reason. No matter what it was, Spock and Kirk were stuck on the planet until the problem was resolved.

" Try to regain access, I'll keep an eye on- "

The audio from the main screen shot through the room, bouncing off the walls in a high-pitched, and quick succession. Each of them were startled, to say the least, their attention being snapped over to the main screen where they discovered Spock's biorhythm to be unstable. The sinusoidal lines were quick in frequency and the readings seemed to spike off the charts. There seemed to be no period between the peaks of the lines as they spiked upwards and downwards in quick succession.

The doctor's eyes widened. " Ah hell, " He managed to mutter. 


	2. On the Surface

" Jim..?! Jim..! Report ! " Came the doctor's begging voice from the comm at a distance from the fallen half-Vulcan and the human who knelt beside him. _No..._ He could not afford to reach for it, not now; the comm was too far out of his reach, and he could not afford to remove his hands from Spock's wound. His hands were the only thing keeping any pressure on him, the only thing that kept him from bleeding out.

The ground around them was painted emerald, and the neck of the first officer's shirt had been soaked wet. The bleeding had been so sudden, so violent. Due to the deep, and open wound, the blood had been free to shoot from his body to the air. When he had finally fallen, the blood simply flew upwards, raining on the half-Vulcan's face, as well as his own when he had rushed over to aid him. The shirt that he had pressed on the wound did not seem to be serving it's purpose very well either, as the blood had already made it's way past the shirt to soak his hands. The captain winced, gritting his teeth when he felt the wetness meet his hands. This was not good, the bleed was too violent. He turned his panicked, blue eyes to the officer's face.

The half-Vulcan's eyes were half-lidded and dim. He gazed at the sky with a pained and stony expression, no true focus to his surroundings. His skin paled to a color whiter than normal, and his mouth remained wide open as he gasped for breath. His breaths came in quick, sharp inhales; yet with every sufficient intake of oxygen, he fell into a fit of coughs, green blood spilling from his lips and shooting from his mouth. This was a look that the Captain had never wanted to witness in his career. Not from a friend. Not from Spock.

He knew very well that the man would not survive much longer without help. He turned head to look at the comm. If only he could get the other man to remain conscious enough to hold the bundle of clothing to his wound, then he could call the ship to get help. It was clear as day that the man would not survive very long if he didn't get medical help quickly. But seeing as the first officer had not even spoke or even tried to get up since his injury, that may just be wishful thinking. But he could dream, right?

" Spock. " He tried, gently grabbing his shoulder and shaking, " Hey. Spock. " He called, attempting to his best ability to get the other's attention. A glint of recognition shone in the first officer's eyes, and the captain grinned, the very act tainted with a grim tone. The recognition in his eyes was a sign that he would be able to manage a bit longer, that he was not entirely gone. The half-Vulcan had always been strong. He had also been stubborn. Those were what kept the man with the living, he could only guess. He could only hope that the half-Vulcan would continue to remain with them.

Kirk reached for the other 's hand. It was cold. _God..._ No. It was too soon. He couldn't leave them yet: it wasn't his time. He was too important to the Enterprise, too important to the Federation. Spock was a great officer, he had made a name for himself, and he was notably one of the best there was. He placed preparation and caution above all when in mission and on-board. Not to mention he worked tirelessly, as it seemed- out of pure enjoyment. He was passionate about his job. There weren't many like that. To lose him would be a significant blow to the Enterprise. That... And he was a friend.

He closed his eyes momentarily and swallowed in an attempt to calm himself. The fact that the half-Vulcan was only mortal began to sink into his system. He did not know why this should come as such a surprise. He did always think of the man as stronger than him; he had supposedly made the assumption that the man would never be defeated, live out his life, and die naturally. Not like this. He guided the officer's hand to the bundled up over-shirt on his neck. " Hold onto that tight for a bit, okay? " He asked, pushing the first officer's unwounded hand against the grotesque neck wound.

The half-Vulcan was still there... Somewhat. His hand curled into a fist, gripping weakly at the shirt and shaking as it did so. He pressed the bundle of cloth down on his wound. The captain merely grinned, " That's it... It'll be alright. " He soothed, " I'm just gonna get the others to beam us up. But you've got to stay with us until then, alright?" He hadn't expected the onslaught of tears that met his eyes. The tears were bitter, and they burned. Maybe he had thought that Spock had some kind of backup plan. Maybe he thought that there was a way to reason with the local. Or, maybe he had just expected that they'd get out of this, just like they got out of everything. He hadn't expected it all to turn out this way...But Spock did. He had tried to warn him; it just took him too long to catch on. He knew what he was doing. He knew exactly what was going on. He always did.

This was partly his fault. If only he had caught on too the officer's hints beforehand; if only he had been more wary of their surroundings. If the officer were too fall today... Well... The guilt would rest on his shoulders. He shook his head and reached for the comm, turning the switch in order to speak.

" Kirk here. " He began, again pressing his free hand on top of the first officer's, placing further pressure on his neck. " Spock's down. Beam us up immediately, and have medical ready to meet us at the bridge-"

The ground shook slightly as a result of the reverberations of a voice that came, seemingly, from every direction. Not having expected the tremor that shook the dirt beneath him, the comm slipped from his hands and fell to the ground.  
_'...You don't have the faintest idea what happened, James...? _'  
The captain's head spun around swiftly, his eyes narrowed into a glare. But he couldn't find the source of that ominous voice.  
_'Kill the man who injured Spock, and he will be returned to you._'


End file.
